Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February of this year, business expectations in the digital sector have declined rapidly. At the same time, the actual business situation has only fallen comparatively weakly. After a slight recovery in October, the index for the business situation fell by 3.4 points to 31.7, but is still just above the September value. The outlook for the coming six months remains almost unchanged from the previous month at the deeply negative value of -18.2 points. The Bitkom-Ifo digital index, calculated based on business situation and business climate, stands at 5.2 points and is only just in positive territory. The last time a worse value was recorded was in June 2020, deep in the shock following the start of the pandemic.
Bitkom Chief Executive Bernhard Rohleder says:
“The digital sector is proving resilient in the current crisis, but the coming months are marked by many uncertainties.”
The corresponding economic indices of the Ifo Institute for the overall economy are once again significantly below those of the digital sector: business climate stands at -11.3 points, deep in negative territory, business situation falls from 14.6 to 12.3 points, and business expectations rise at a very low level from -40.9 to -32.2 points.
Digital sector plans new investments
Other results from the survey of digital companies conducted by Bitkom and Ifo are rather encouraging: More than a quarter of the surveyed companies intend to increase investments in the coming year, about half want to maintain them at the previous year’s level, and less than a quarter plan lower investments. Investments in software are to be expanded in particular. 28 percent are planning additional spending, while only 14 percent are planning cuts. In research and development, 23 percent of companies want to invest more money, with 13 percent expecting cuts. And 23 percent have committed to additional investments in equipment, while 17 percent want to save in this area. For buildings, however, there is clear restraint. Only 14 percent of digital companies want to invest more, while 32 percent will cut these expenses.
